"Everything is go," said Tim Macy, the director of project
development and construction for Delaware North Parks &
Resorts, which operates the complex for NASA. "We are looking
forward to having a big turnout that Saturday."

Macy, together with Bill Moore, the visitor complex's chief
operating officer, updated reporters about Atlantis' status on
Thursday (June 6), the day before welcoming the press inside the
90,000 square foot (8,360 square meter) " Space
Shuttle Atlantis " exhibition to get a first look at the
historic spacecraft in its final display condition. [ Gallery:
Space Shuttle Atlantis Ready for Display ]

"I cannot tell you the level of excitement and nervousness and
all the energy that goes into this just as we get down to close
under three weeks to Atlantis' [exhibit] opening," Moore said.
"This is really the largest thing we've done."

Atlantis, which in July 2011 flew NASA's final flight of the
shuttle program, now has a new mission as an educational museum
display. Like its sister orbiters, it will be used to educate the
public about the 30-year history of the shuttle fleet and, as
NASA hopes, help inspire a new generation of space explorers.

Unlike the other shuttles — Discovery at the Smithsonian in
Virginia and Endeavour at the California Science Center in Los
Angeles, as well as the prototype orbiter Enterprise at the
Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City — Atlantis is
being displayed in "flight."

"Atlantis is a very different type of attraction," said Moore.
"There are only three space-flown shuttles in the world. This
will be the only one in the world that will be off the ground and
in flight presentation."

After it arrived at the visitor complex in November 2012,
Atlantis was mounted 30 feet (9 meters) into the air and then
angled 43.21 degrees to one side. It then spent about five months
shrink wrapped in 16,000 square feet (1,486 square meters) of
white plastic to shield it from dust and dirt as its exhibition
building was completed around it.

In April, Atlantis was
unwrapped so that its
payload bay could be opened, a process that required careful
execution as its two 60-foot long (18-meter) doors were designed
to operate only in the microgravity environment of space. On
Earth, they required metal support braces and guy wires.

"It [went] as smooth as buttah," Macy exclaimed. "It was
fantastic. We were very cautious but our plan worked as it was
supposed to work. Everybody was a little nervous but it worked."

"We have opened the
payload bay doors, extended the K-Band antenna and installed
the Canadarm [robotic arm], so she's pretty much in show
position," he added.

Quite a project

With Atlantis ready, Macy and his team are now focusing on
completing the rest of the exhibition, including installing the
60 related exhibits that will tell the story of the orbiter, the
International Space Station (ISS) and how astronauts worked
outside the shuttle during spacewalks.

Interactive simulators and displays are being moved into place. A
full-size
Hubble Space Telescope now spans the building's two floors
and Atlantis' wall-length digital screen backdrop has been loaded
with a high-definition movie that will help give the shuttle the
appearance of being back in space.

Outside the five-story facility, workers are assembling the
towering gateway that will welcome visitors to Atlantis.

Standing 184 feet (56 meters) tall, the full size replicas of
Atlantis' launch components are partially in place. As of Friday
(June 7), the bases for the two twin boosters still needed to be
installed and the framework for the fuel tank was still being
covered with orange panels.

"From the start of the construction in January 2012 to right now,
it has been quite a project," Macy said. "It has been one of the
largest projects we have taken on here at the Kennedy Space
Center Visitor Complex."

"We are in really good shape in terms of how close we are to our
opening on the 29th of June," he said. "Construction is on time
and on budget, and we feel really good about it."